Nights
by saffroncremebrulee
Summary: Part 4/7. Post Ceremonial Battle. Anzu has gotten...married? One shot. Thought provoking but not cheerful.


**Disclaimer/Note:** YuGiOh original characters and stories do not belong to me. This is purely a work of fiction.

Part of a 7 fic series.

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Anzu has always hated nights. As a child, her parents placed nightlights everywhere to help her sleep. The hallways, rooms, the floors. Even her stuffed animals had tiny little flashlights. They told her to always trust in the light because they were her Prince Charming, slaying all of the dragons in the dark as she slept.

It was a fairytale. She knew that, but she believed anyway because it was better than facing the reality of how cruel life can be. There were enough dragons in the waking world without adding them to her slumber. Her lights accompanied her everywhere she went. As long as she believed, she didn't need to cry about the prospect of losing the battle against the dark. As long as she had her lights, someone was looking out for her.

It was fitting, then, that her Prince Charming actually wore light around his neck. His shiny puzzle gleamed even in the darkest of hours. The light shone through countless duels, fights, and adventures. As long as he wore the light she was safe, and as long as she believed in him she would always find her way home.

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It was years before she slept comfortably. After he left, each day became an exercise in conjuring the facade of happiness. She stopped going to duels, preferring instead to hide her tears at the dance studio. She told her friends she was training for her Julliard audition- a lie of sorts- and they believed her because they wanted to believe she was going to recover the part of her spirit that walked on to the afterlife with him.

It was even more years before she surprised herself by marrying someone else. The proposal was simple, business-like. "Let's just sign the contract and make it official Mazaki." The ceremony even more so. She didn't register the ring, the dress, or the magistrate. Just the sensation of how hollow she felt as she smiled into the twilight.

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Her friends were even more surprised when they found out who she had married. One by one, they had all given up hope of her ever falling in love again after he left. She turned down every one of their efforts to set her up. There was always something "not quite right" with her suitors; namely, they weren't corporeal figures of a long deceased ancient spirit. Everyone thought she was determined to be alone. She did too, until the weariness wore her out and she caved.

Yugi sputtered like a lost goldfish when she told him. "You...got...married...to...WHO? But you should have TOLD me. I would have...in a heartbeat...Rebecca would have...I mean, I miss him too...but marrying HIM...of all people...it's not what he would have wanted for you."

Joey nearly exploded when he found out. Tristan did explode in a confetti of profanities. Mai and Serenity admonished their respective husbands, but privately they agreed her new husband was not worthy. Even Duke, the perpetual playboy, offered to reform to marry her instead. "Divorce him, love. He's not the one for you."

Duke was right. All of her friends were. And yet why, exactly, did she marry him? She's asked herself that so many times since the wedding. She didn't even have an answer for herself, let alone for her friends. She was so very tired of feeling so alone and lost in the darkness. Being a famous and talented dancer didn't exactly fill the gaping hole in her heart. All the world saw the mirage of happiness she conjured for performances, but she alone knew the shadows that followed her everywhere the lights dimmed.

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Maybe that's why she agreed to marry him. He who also experienced loss but never admitted it to anyone. He proposed that they share their suffering in this world as partners. He gently told her the truth. She couldn't dance professionally forever, and she wanted a real partner to dance with when she was old, no matter how close she clutched the memory of the person who took the light away.

She married a dragon. She grew to love him and he grew to love her. Not with the earth-shattering, soul-possessing love of eternity of the lucky, but they developed a quiet trust of mutual dependency. It was enough for them because it was all they could have in this lifetime. They referred to each other "Husband" and "Wife." Not "Darling" or "Love" or "Baby." What others interpreted as propriety they understood as practicality. Theirs was not a soulmate kind of love, but it was enough for their needs.

When their twins were born, she chose Alex for the boy and he chose Kelly for the girl. Neither commented on the other's name choice. Neither of them mourned when they were told twins were all they would ever have. The doctor thought it was odd that both parents proclaimed the twins were all they need. Most couples took the news with tears and screams. This couple just nodded and thanked him for his time. What he thought was an effort to spoil the children with enough love to make up for all the siblings they could have had was really something else altogether, but neither parent ever enlightened the doctor about why they loved their children.

And so they lived, if not happily ever after, comfortably ever after.

And that was enough for Anzu when the lights were on.

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**Please review! Props if you can guess who she married (C'mon. Dragon? Business arrangement? Alex and Kelly?).**


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